Today in 1692,the town ofSalem, Massachusettsbegan hanging witches.

Today in 1943,after many years of heated debate,Congress finally authorized payroll tax withholding.

Today in 1943,Berlinwas declared "Judenrien" (free of Jews).

Today in 1965,Michel Jazyran the mile in 3-minutes, 53.6 secondsbreaking the record set by Peter Snell.

Today in 1980,actor/comedian RichardPryor suffered almost fatal burns at his San Fernando Valley, California homewhen a mixture of "free-base" cocaine exploded. He was hospitalized more than two months.

Today in 1985,the Los Angeles Lakerswon the NBA title by defeating the Boston Celtics. The Lakers had been shut out of a championship series since 1959 when they were based in Minneapolis. The MVP of the winning Lakers was Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Today in 1986,General Electric Companybought the RCA Corporation, parent of NBC, for $6.4-billion. At the time, the deal was the largest non-oil acquisition in U.S. history.

Today in 1986,the Rogers Commissionreleased its report on the "Challenger" disaster, criticizing NASA and rocket-builder Morton Thiokol for management problems leading to the explosion that claimed the lives of seven astronauts.

Today in 1993,US officialsadmitted veterans of the Gulf War were suffering from a mystery illness. Later dubbed Gulf War Syndrome, the illness is a chronic multi-symptom disorder with a wide range of acute and chronic symptoms, including fatigue, muscle pain, cognitive problems, rashes and diarrhea. Approximately 250,000 of the 697,000 U.S. veterans who served in the 1991 Gulf War are afflicted with it.

Today in1994,a firedestroyed the Georgia mansion of Atlanta Falcons receiver Andre Rison. His girlfriend, rap singer Lisa Left Eye Lopes, later admitted causing the blaze after a fight, and was later sentenced to probation.

Today in1997,thefinal episode of Married with Children aired on Fox,ending the series 11-season run.

Today in 2001,Patrick Roybecame the first NHL player to win three Conn Smythe Trophies(and hes the only one to do so).

Today in 2013,Edward Snowdenpublicly made his identity known as the leaker of NSA documents.

Today in2014,Laverne Coxbecame the first transgender person to appear on the cover of "Time" Magazine.

Today in 2016,President Barack Obamaofficially endorsed Hillary Clinton as Democratic Presidential nominee. In a video he posted online, Obama added: Look, I know how hard this job can be. Thats why I know Hillary will be so good at it.

Today in2017,tennis player Venus Williamscaused a car accident that lead to the death of another passenger in Palm Beach, Florida.

Today in 2019,Ali Strokerbecame the first actress in a wheelchair to win a Tony awardfor her role in the musical, "Oklahoma!"

Continued here:
'Married....With Children' Signs Off On This Date in 1997 After 11 Year Run - iHeart

Elon Musk isalmost everywhere.

Not a day goes by that he doesn't tweet. When it's not news about one of his multiple companies -- Tesla (TSLA) - Get Tesla Inc Report, SpaceX, The Boring Company, Neuralink -- he posts about politics, geopolitical affairs, or engages with his millions of followers on a variety of topics, ranging from his states of mind to metaphysical questions such as happiness.

Often the tweets are about his quarrels and enmities. Basically, when Musk's tweets aren't about his companies, they're about him.

For two months, since April to be precise, he has monopolized the headlines with his ongoing acquisition of Twitter for $44 billion. This takeover, which is supposed to be finalized by the end of October, has made him more political. It comes in the wake of his public support for Ukraine since it was invaded by Russia on February 24.

This media overexposure is not about to recede as Musk knows how to feed it. It's all the more difficult to ignore him because the billionaire is one of the main reasons Tesla's stock market valuation hit $1 trillion last fall.

He is not only the CEO of the electric vehicle manufacturer, but also the chief product officer, the chief marketing officer and above all the spokesperson. For those who doubt it, Tesla stock had a tough time when Musk shifted his time in April and May, talking mostly about his bid to buy Twitter. Investors were worried he will be distracted.

Musk's importance to Tesla is equal to his importance to SpaceX. The rocket company is on a mission to take humans to live on Mars. This bold ambition is based on Musk's vision.

The richest man in the world has decided to use his platform to alert his millions of followers to another problem that concerns him. He has just revived a new worry, that of spying on American citizens by the CIA, saying that he would be surprised if he was not being spied on.

Musk tweeted a sort of meme with the logo, the name of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the following message:

"Does anyone else feel like their (sic) being watched?"

"You are," responded tech entrepreneur Kim Dotcom, who is who is accused of netting millions from his Megaupload file-sharing service. "24/7 on all your devices and online services, including your own Starlink. In your case it's not just mass surveillance. You are a priority target. Welcome to the club."

Which Musk confirmed by commenting on the post.

"I would be shocked if Im *not* being spied on haha," the billionaire said without saying which agency might be spying on him.

"My only ask is that anyone spying on me please not affect call quality too much or I cant hear whats being said!"

Musk did not provide any evidence to support his claims, which some Twitter users pointed out to him.

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"Prove it that it's a bad thing! I dare you," said one user.

The CIA did not respond to requests for comment from TheStreet.

It's noteworthy that SpaceX has national security contracts, including the launch cargo for NASA, a secretive spy satellite for the intelligence community and national security payloads for the US military. Some of the mission might require Musk to have security clearance.

In February,Senators Ron Wyden of Oregon and Martin Heinrich of New Mexico raised alarms that the CIA is again spying on Americans.

They alleged, in a letter, that the Agencyhas a secret, undisclosed database of information collected on Americans. Although neither the agency nor lawmakers wanted to release details about that data, the two senators say the CIA had long hidden details of the program from the public and Congress.

Wyden and Heinrich, both democrats, called for more transparency from the CIA, including what kind of records were collected and the legal framework for the collection.

Information that the intelligence community gathers domestically has long raised concerns, not least because of past violations of Americans' civil liberties. The CIA and the National Security Agency (NSA) have a mission abroad and are generally prohibited from investigating Americans or American companies by the CIA's 1947 charter.

But the collection of foreign communications by American spy agencies results in the collection of American messages and data.

In 2013, NSA contractor turned whistle-blower Edward Snowden disclosed to the public the existence of a program of data collection, known as PRISM, using extensive internet and phone surveillance by American intelligence.

It was ruled unlawful by a court.

Last year, a government watchdog disclosed two CIA data collection efforts. Wyden and Heinrich claimed in February that the agency is likely to be again subjecting Americans to warrantless searches.

The CIA released a declassified report on one of the program in February, but declined to declassify the other to protect "sensitive tradecraft methods and operational sources,"the agency said,

"What these documents demonstrate is that many of the same concerns that Americans have about their privacy and civil liberties also apply to how the CIA collects and handles information under executive order and outside the FISA law," the two senators said in a press release. In the release they quoted the aletter sent to senior intelligence officials in April 2021.

"In particular, these documents reveal serious problems associated with warrantless backdoor searches of Americans, the same issue that has generated bipartisan concern in the FISA context.

Wyden and Heinrich learned about this program because they're members of the Senate Intelligence Committee. They urged top spy officials to declassify the details of this secret program.

Continue reading here:
Elon Musk Has a Message for The CIA - TheStreet

TNW main stage in 2019 (Photo by Dan Taylor - Dan Taylor).

Is it a festival? A business conference? One big party? Whatever it is, it works. The Next Web Conference in Amsterdam has been a staple in tech events for 15 years now. Not everything has stayed the same though. COVID shut down the event space, the company was acquired by the Financial Times, and leadership changed. So with a new conference edition just around the corner, it is time to catch up and look ahead.

Next week, The Next Web Conference will kick off once again. On June 16th and 17th, over 10,000 people will flock to Taets Arts and Event park on the outskirts of Amsterdam to listen to speakers, connect with thousands of businesses and raise their glasses.

Has the Dutch workforce mastered all digital skills? Find out

The event has come a long way in the past 15 years. What started as a small get-together with 250 attendees ballooned into a globally known brand. The inspiring leadership of founders Patrick de Laive and Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten made the company into what it is today: an event organiser, media company, range of coworking spaces and programmes to boost startups that likes to do things just a little bit differently than the norm.

To continue TNWs growth, it was time to shake things up. Last year, Veldhuijzen van Zanten stepped down as CEO and named Myrthe van der Erve as his successor. So she is getting ready for her first real TNW Conference as the companys new leader.

TNW Conference feels like a festival, but we are also about doing business. We want to become a global super-connector. For Van der Erve, this means making sure TNW is being used to showcase the best of Dutch talent on an international stage. We believe that it is our role to help the Netherlands punch as one.

Thats why she brought in Zach Butler as Events Director. With over ten years of experience in the event business and involvement in, among others, London Tech Week, his task is to bring TNW Conference to the next level.

TNW has been moving up some levels for a while now. For example, their conference has been growing steadily over the years. As a result, The Financial Times acquired a majority stake in the company in 2019, providing them with the backing of a global media and events company.

It is good that FT is willing to invest in growth, says Van der Erve. Its great that we can team up with such an organisation on different things. For example, they helped us to double down on marketing. During COVID, we could use their event experience to move TNW Conference online. And they helped us recruit Zach.

For Butler, working at TNW and partnering with FT is a two-way street. FT is operating in spaces where corporates thrive, while our founders were able to start something no corporation would ever be able to. As such, it is the perfect match.

Despite the acquisition, TNW is operating as a completely independent brand. Van der Erve sees the connection between two companies more as a family thing. We both are global brands, but they are bigger, more corporate focused and a real authority in media land. To us they are the father that guides us in the right direction.

That father figure proved valuable in the past two years, especially when COVID shut down the event business entirely. As a result, TNW Conference had to move online in 2020, while in 2021, they were able to host a hybrid event. It was way smaller than usual, though. FT has a big event business. So they helped us out when moving online, says Van de Erve.

TNW is happy to be back offline when it comes to its event. However, the forced shutdown did provide valuable lessons. The biggest thing I learned was that diverse businesses have an advantage, Butler says, looking back. While their spaces were also largely empty during this time, with their news website and consultancy arm, they continued to be a thriving platform for startups. We can serve our audience outside the event as well.

Van der Erve: We have the potential to further build on that business diversification. Its important for us to create synergy in a unified business, to help our users better, faster and cheaper. Despite the different arms of the TNW brand, the event the reason TNW started back in 2006 is still the core pillar.

Our number one mission is still to be the ultimate connector in the Dutch ecosystem, Butler says. Traditionally, TNW is known for its Amsterdam presence. With the event taking up ever larger and more exciting venues around the city. However, Butler and Van der Erve are looking beyond the Dutch capital, even beyond The Netherlands.

Butler: If our goal is to help the Netherlands startup community punch as one, we need to be in all four corners of the country, helping unite fragmented ecosystems. I believe that it is my role to uncover every startup in the Netherlands, and connect them to someone or something that will help multiply their journey.

Make that a European thing, as Butler and Van der Erve admit they are also eyeing other countries for a TNW Conference. We want to become more European, says Butler. He says an excellent place to start decentralising the TNW Brand would be Ireland. We are seeing strong interest in an international brand helping accelerate a pretty exciting but currently underserved Irish startup ecosystem. We can take what TNW does and help accelerate the ecosystem there. We are part of an innovative culture with a tone of voice that works. Different cities are interested in speaking with us about the future.

First up, however, is Amsterdam. With a sold-out exhibition space, 10,000 visitors, over 1,500 startups, and a packed line-up of speakers, its like TNW has never been gone. For Van der Erve, it is her first real TNW. The last conference was in September. I had just become CEO then, which made it different for me. Now, my role will be more outward-facing. Im ready to meet so many more players in the ecosystem.

For Butler, it is his first conference as part of the TNW-team. Ive been twice as a visitor, in 2018 and 2019. It was great seeing so many people of the Dutch ecosystem meet, do business and have fun while doing so.

For this edition, Butler is also excited about seeing some of the speakers. The line-up is what I believe drives people to TNW. For instance, Edward Snowden is doing an Ask me anything live on stage. Hes never done a live, unfiltered Q&A.

Mo Gawdat of Google X and Tim Berners-Lee are among the other notable speakers. Butler also boasts a big opening ceremony, as is traditional for TNW Conferences. In line with the companys ambition, the ceremonys theme will be European tech united. Butler keeps the what and how under wraps. But overall, the goal is to create a positive motion and connections.

Catch our interview with Paul Down, Head of Sales at Intigriti.

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With TNW 2022 around the corner, a look to the future - Silicon Canals

Even though the last couple of years have seen a number of crypto-centric events pop up all over the globe, none can be compared to Consensus, a 4-day conference that helps bring together some of the biggest names from within the global economic landscape.

In this regard, Consensus 2022 will take place between June 9 12 in Austin, Texas and will be curated/managed by Coindesk, one of the worlds most prestigious crypto media publications. To elaborate, this years event will see the likes of Sam Bankman-Fried, Abby Johnson, Dan Schulman, Balaji Srinivasan, Edward Snowden, Jeremy Allaire, amongst others, discuss in detail a host of issues related to digital asset investments, NFTs, DeFi, regulation, Web 3 and the Metaverse.

Additionally, the conference will also witness heavy participation from a number of developers, creators, investors, policymakers, executives and academics from across the world

This full-day workshop is set to commence on June 10 and end the day after. The goal of this highly anticipated session is to help inform attendees regarding Fetch.ais immense capabilities surrounding futuristic technologies such as AI (Artificial Intelligence), Machine Learning (ML), and Blockchain-based toolkits.

Fetch.ai is a Cosmo SDK-centric blockchain and is designed to help usher in a high level of automation in relation to any chain/protocol. As part of the 2-day event, participants will be shown how to devise novel decentralized applications (dApps) on the Fetch.ai network and also be given a demonstration of the Fetch.ai App that helps connect individuals and businesses without the need of an intermediary. Lastly, attendees will be provided with access to Fetch.ais decentralized privacy solution DabbaFlow.

Set to start at 7 pm on June 10, the Coin Center Annual Dinner hosts some of the most reputed individuals working within the blockchain sector today. As part of the evening, attendees will be rubbing shoulders with the folks who have been touted to help the crypto market evolve and reach its true potential.

A brief one-day event, Health 3.0 How Decentralization Will Re-Invent Healthcare, as the name suggests is a Web3 centric program that harnesses the power of decentralized business models and technologies in an effort to help individuals gain complete control of their private healthcare info especially in regard to owing, sharing and monetizing it.

The session will be organized by the DecentraTech Collective and will have a number of startups giving detailed presentations about the technology. This will be followed by a Q&A session with each of the presenters.

Helium House ATX will commence on June 11 and will last the entire day. Its purpose is to bring together members of the fledgling Helium project while discussing the rapid evolution of The Peoples Network. In its simplest sense, The Peoples Network can be viewed as a one-of-a-kind P2P wireless mesh that affords its users a highly private, affordable way of powering the Internet of Things (IoT) devices primarily to send/receive data using traditional internet services.

The folks behind the massively popular subreddit WallStreetBets will be hosting an action-packed gathering of like-minded crypto enthusiasts on June 9. The event will feature table games like Blackjack and Roulette while also giving attendees a chance to participate in activities that have attractive prizes up for grabs.

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Here Are The Events You Can't Miss at Consensus 2022 Week | Bitcoinist.com - Bitcoinist

Blockchain is the technology that started it all its what makes millions of transactions sent through peer-to-peer cryptocurrency networks every year. And now, its making its way into one of the most important parts of everyday life communication. But what makes blockchain so powerful, and what exactly does it have to do with the way in which we talk to others?

Cryptocurrency networks decide on the true state of their blockchains using consensus mechanisms, processes that verify the legitimacy of data stored within blocks and decide where along a particular blockchain those blocks belong. If nodes within a cryptocurrency network disagree on a blockchains true state, then protocols specific to each network automatically settle the dispute and determine the correct blockchain. Because this is done automatically, it is very difficult for an attacker to commit fraudulent transactions.

Consensus mechanisms contribute to another attractive feature of blockchains, that being their immutability. Data stored within blockchains cannot be retroactively changed or reversed without majority consensus. 51% or more of all nodes within a cryptocurrency network must agree to change the state of a blockchain. As a cryptocurrency grows, it becomes harder and harder for a single entity to control 51% of the network. Because of this, large cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin ensure the integrity of transactions. In turn, this enables individuals and businesses to trust that their funds are safe.

TokLok, a rising messaging app, is using similar technology to revolutionize online communication. TokLok uses a decentralized and encrypted peer-to-peer network to send fully secure communications directly between phones, guaranteeing truly private correspondence.

When messages are sent from one phone to another, they are first wrapped in two layers of encryption. Then, they travel throughout the network to their intended destination. To ensure that they cannot be intercepted, only devices equipped with the correct secret codes can decrypt and read them. The combination of encryption and secret codes makes it impossible for anyone who attempts to insert themselves between senders and receivers to sniff or alter the contents of their messages. This enables users to trust that their conversations are unfiltered, uncensored, and secure.

While there are several encrypted messaging apps available, no other app goes to such lengths to protect user data. Because TokLok sends messages directly between phones, those messages never touch a third-party data provider, completely skipping cellular networks and internet service providers. This is important because messages that through third-party networks are vulnerable on the way to their destination. Without knowing what happens between a messages start and end point, its impossible to determine whether they are being spied upon or altered.

This concern is not unfounded. The famous PRISM documents, leaked by Edward Snowden in 2013, revealed that the National Security Agency (NSA) in the United States had back-door access to some of the largest internet platforms. Microsoft, Google, Facebook, and Apple were all named either voluntarily or by force, these companies enabled the United States government to spy on anyone using their services. Between government surveillance and hackers, no data sent through a third party is safe.

Even without anything to hide, data privacy is important. Data sent through third-party services can be stored indefinitely and used in a plethora of nefarious ways. Personal data can be used to profile individuals in order to influence their beliefs, track their movements, impersonate them, steal their identity, and more.

Though TokLok is already developed, maintaining the most secure messenger is no small task. Cyber security threats evolve every single day. As such, TokLok has decided to go public via an ICO, or Initial Coin Offering. Sold TOL tokens will be distributed through the Ethereum blockchain, and the funds generated from these sales will be put towards continuous updates and the development of new features.

The first round of TokLoks ICO has already begun. In total, there will be three rounds, each round offering the token for a higher price than the last. Because TokLok has the competitive advantage of being the only messaging app that provides full security, investors from across the cryptocurrency space are jumping in.

Continue reading here:
How Will Blockchain Revolutionize Communication - NewsBTC

In June 2021, ProPublica published confidential IRS tax information about wealthy Americans provided by a still-unidentified source. While we don't yet know who dumped the data, we do know that this is far from the first time that the tax agency, which forces people to reveal sensitive details about their finances, has proven to be an unreliable custodian of that information, and that's putting it nicely. Too often, federal tax collectors misuse official records for fun, profit, and political advantage.

"Today, ProPublica is launching the first in a series of stories based on the private tax data of some of our nation's richest citizens," ProPublica's Stephen Engelberg and Richard Tofel wrote on June 8, 2021. "Many will ask about the ethics of publishing such private data. We are doing soquite selectively and carefullybecause we believe it serves the public interest in fundamental ways, allowing readers to see patterns that were until now hidden."

Included in the treasure trove of tax data were details about the tax bills of people including Jeff Bezos and Warren Buffett. Drawn from IRS records, the information was provided through "secure systems that allow whistleblowers to transmit information to us without revealing their identity." The data revealed that many wealthy Americans successfully minimize their tax burdens, which might have been the source's purpose, though that's anybody's guess. People have many motivations for releasing information and ProPublica admits it doesn't know the source's intentions.

In fact, the IRS leaks like a sieve on a regular basis for all sorts of reasons.

"[T]he IRS completed 1,694 investigations into the willful unauthorized access of tax data by employeesand 27% were found to be violations," the U.S. Government Accountability Office reported last month.

"[Michael Kasper] was almost certainly one of the more than 330,000 Americans who fell victim to an audacious hack of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), which was disclosed earlier this year," Quartz noted in 2015 of a man who discovered that somebody else collected his tax refund.

"Tea Party, anti-abortion and other conservative groups told Congress on Tuesday that the Internal Revenue Service held up their applications for tax exemptions, harassed them with questions and leaked their donor lists to political opponents," USA Today reported in 2013.

Outsiders penetrate inadequate security for gain while IRS employees often access and disclose financial information to satisfy personal curiosity, to make money, and to advance political causes. Sometimes those political causes are their own, and other times they're part of the agenda of whoever holds power in the federal government.

"The history of the I.R.S is riddled with repeated instances of agents acting out of self-interest or pursuing their own ideological agenda, as well as examples of Presidents, White House staff and Cabinet officials pressuring the tax agency to take political actions," The New York Times pointed out in 1989.

That abuse began early in the accumulation of the tax agency's powers.

"My father," Elliott Roosevelt, son of former President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, once commented, "may have been the originator of the concept of employing the IRS as a weapon of political retribution."

FDR's administration may have been the first to weaponize the tax-collection agency, but it wasn't the last. John F. Kennedy established an "Ideological Organizations Audit Project" within the IRS to target his conservative political critics. Richard Nixon infamously used the tax agency as a political hit man against prominent Democrats. That the misuse of tax information continued is obvious from the Times story on the matter during the administration of Bush Sr. as well as from the scandal over the Obama-era mistreatment of Tea Party groups and, more recently, the ProPublica leak.

So, the use of tax data by ProPublica and its source to make a policy point isn't exactly groundbreaking. Some of the agents and politicians who weaponized the IRS in the past intended to make the world a better place by their lights, or at least to hurt only people and organizations they were convinced were bad. And leaks from government agencies often do achieve beneficial ends. Where would we be without Daniel Ellsberg's copies of the Pentagon Papers, Mark Felt's role as "Deep Throat" in the Watergate scandal, or Edward Snowden's revelations of government surveillance?

But leaks from the IRS aren't war plans, misuses of power, or politicians' schemes; they're sensitive, private financial information that we're forced to surrender to government agents. We have no choice but to fill out our tax forms even though we know that the federal employees receiving our information have a track record of abusing that data for their own ends and to our detriment.

And political goals aren't objectively good justifications for invading people's financial privacy. The National Taxpayers Union Foundation's Andrew Moylan and Andrew Wilford warned in Reason that ProPublica's use of the data was "deceptive and sure to lead to ill-advised policy making." Under the most charitable interpretation, that indicates a tendentious misuse of sensitive private information.

Not that the tax authorities necessarily care. History suggests that IRS leaks carry minimal consequences for the agency.

"The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) previously issued an audit report in September 2006 on the IRS's Office of Privacy and found that the IRS was not complying with legislative privacy requirements," TIGTA reported in 2013. "Despite its commitment toward privacy and improvements from our prior review, the IRS continues to face challenges in meeting legislative privacy requirements."

And here we are in 2022 with, apparently, still a good deal of room for improvement after decades of abuses of privacy by tax collectors and wrist-slaps by their watchdogs. Almost a year after the initial ProPublica story, and after Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen promised "to get to the bottom of this criminal activity," the federal government still claims to have no idea who leaked the data. "There have been no arrests nor any official hints about how the wall of secrecy around tax records was broken; it is unknown whether the IRS has found or closed any security gaps," reports the Wall Street Journal.

Many of us complain about the bite the government takes out of our paychecks. Even more pernicious, though, is that the information tax collectors force us to surrender is likely to be turned against us by politicians, government agents, and activists who see the details of our finances as tools with which to achieve their goals. The IRS isn't just a powerful federal agency, it's a weapon against the public.

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One Year Later, No One Has Been Punished for the IRS Leak of Billionaires' Tax Data - Reason